Review by machocabrio

I was told this film was a great drama about a disabled father who fell from grace and his relationship to his daughter. An exploration of the human experience. It's is nothing like that, but a load of stereotypes, a very basic story with a thirst for cartoonish cruelty, cliched bad guys with piercing eyes and stiff faces and a twist so predictable and forced its painful to watch. People cry with this because it's designed to make them feel guilty and to create a false sense of connection with characters that are in reality paper thin: the dad is just a victim, doesn't have any other virtue or depth, the little girl is cute, always a divine light in her face and a sense of forced innocence to make you go "aww", the dead girl's dad is evil, has no personality, his only trait is the way he smokes, the inmates are a pirate crew. There are no characters, only caricatures. It's a soapy drama reminiscent of The Passion of the Christ: every sour thing on screen is designed to provoke despair, sadness and repulsion, but there's just that, the story doesn't say anything, it's just a cheap ride. There's a somber character that is so mysterious and conceals so much information, you immediately know will play a key but artificial role in the big scope of the story. He's never really explored, because he's just a hidden ace for the film to deliver its final trick, which is so improbable and absurd, you feel cheated by the two hours prior to the reveal. This film is more interested in making you suffer than developing characters and creating a story with a purpose. It says nothing about the human spirit, totally devoid of significance. I really find it interesting that it holds such.a high rating on IMDB when it feels closer to a telenovela than it is to a powerful drama.